HappyGoMommy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving wherever you are! I am very thankful for the big things in life: my family, our health, God, the freedom to homeschool, friends, my extended family, my church, and more!

But here are some random little things I am thankful for as well: cinnamon bread, my computer, warm electric blanket, two working vehicles, lipstick, books, my library card, coupons, pizza, scrapbooks, Cookie Cottage, homeschool catalogs, Facebook, my iPod, photos, vacations (big or small!), playing games with my kids, snuggles with Owen, hoodies, sunglasses, House Hunters, Sudoku, email, girls' nights out, and many, many more! What little things are you thankful for?

My Guy...

Fun little meme I picked up from Amy. This is all about my better half. :)

1. He’s sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?Depends on the season. :) Spring/summer - baseball. Fall/winter - football! And NCIS anytime.

2. You’re out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Fat-free French

3. What’s one food he doesn’t like? Shrimp (a favorite of mine!)

4. You go out to the bar. What does he order? Coors Light. Or an Amaretto Sour. 

5. Where did he go to high school? Oliver High School in Pittsburgh

6. What size shoe does he wear? 10?

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? Steelers memorabilia

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? Ham

9. What would he eat every day if he could? Ham :) Ice cream.

10. What is his favorite cereal? Raisin Bran (with extra raisins he adds to the top)

11. What would he never wear? Brown and orange (Cleveland Browns' colors, you know!)

12. What is his favorite sports team? Pittsburgh Steelers & Pittsburgh Pirates

13. Who did he vote for? McCain

14. Who is his best friend? Me? (I think.)

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn’t do? Debate everything

16. How many states has he lived in? Three: Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Indiana

17. What is his heritage? Italian/Slovakian

18. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what would it be? Cherry chocolate. But he'd really prefer a cherry pie.

19. Did he play sports in high school? Yes. Baseball. He was a catcher!

20. What could he spend hours doing? Watching sports

21. What’s something cool about him? He makes wise decisions. He is funny and very quick-witted. He can juggle. :)

More Meal Planning...

This week's meal plan:

Monday: Taco Ring
Tuesday: Baked Spaghetti
Wednesday: Chicken Stir-Fry
Thursday: Thanksgiving & all the extras at my gram's house!
Friday: Dinner at my mom's to celebrate my brother's birthday
Saturday: CORN night (Clean Out The Refrigerator, aka leftovers!)

It's a busy week, so I've planned some family favorites and easy things I can do from memory. Have a great Thanksgiving and enjoy all of that yummy food!!

Eating Out? Staying In?

I've added a new poll now to the right for those of you interested in voting! (Don't worry; I won't do this all the time!)

This is just a fun little poll to see what you think! It's now been two weeks since our family agreed we would not go out to eat for a month. So. . . how do you think we've done? Weigh in to the right!

Alphabet Tag

Just a quick A to Z about me! And I'm tagging Kristy, Heather, Staci, Jenn, and Kelly to do the same! :) 

A-Attached or Single: Attached 
B-Best Friend: My Husband, no question!
C-Cake or Pie: Strawberry pie. Yum!
D-Day of Choice: Sunday (preferably in the fall!)
E-Essential Item: My computer
F-Favorite Color: Yellow
G-Greatest Accomplishment: Passing my ATC exam, having a strong marriage & great kids
H-Hometown: Fort Wayne
I-Indulgences: M&Ms
J-January or July: July (though I used to LOVE the winter!)
K-Kids: 1 girl and 2 boys
L-Life is incomplete without: God, my family
M-Marriage: One of my favorite things. :)
N-Number of Siblings: 1 (My brother is so lucky to have me!)
O-Oranges or Apples: Apples. I love Gala especially.
P-Phobias or fears: Thunderstorms, ants, going to the dentist
Q-Quotes: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to my death your right to say it."
R-Reason to Smile: I'm healthy and so is my family.
S-Season: Fall 
T-Tag Friends: Kristy, Heather, Staci, Jenn, and Kelly
U-Unknown facts about me: I hate it when my socks get wet. Ewww!
V-Very favorite store(s): Target, any bookstore
W-Worst habit: Snacking when I'm not hungry
X-X-ray or Ultra Sound: Ultrasound (because x-rays mean something is broken, and ultrasounds usually mean you're having a baby!) :) 
Y-Your favorite food: Just one? Hmmm....I'll go with mashed potatoes right now. But tomorrow I may change my mind. Curly fries are another favorite!
Z-Zodiac: Scorpio (though I don't put any weight in zodiac signs!)

And thanks to everyone who voted in my poll about blog design. The results were about 65%/35% for keeping it the same. I have decided to keep my blog the same since it involves some work and the majority like it as is. Thanks for your opinions! :) I appreciated it!

How the Other Half Lives...

I *adore* learning about how other people live and how different people can be! (Maybe I should have been a sociologist?) I guess that is why I am drawn to reading blogs and watching television shows like "House Hunters," "Wife Swap," "Supernanny," and lots more!

My current fave is "House Hunters International." If you've never seen it (and you're missing out!!), each episode follows someone (a couple, family, single person, etc.) as they look for a new home in somewhere other than the U.S. They tour three homes and then decide which home to purchase. You get an insider's look at homes in other countries and they also tell you the price in U.S. dollars. Too fun! :) Everything from fancy homes, to country homes, to small city apartments.

Maybe I watch it too often, though, because today Riley asked if we could watch an episode for school. My answer? "Absolutely not, Riley. Not during school time! We need to get your work done!"

"But mom," she replied, "we're studying France right now and maybe they will be looking for a home in France!"

Ah, my sweet daughter! She gets an A+ today for logic! :)  (Oh, and I did check; there is an episode coming up on Friday that looks at homes in Paris! Oh la la! We will definitely have to watch that one soon. I've been to France twice and love it there!)

Our Kids....

are really cute! And sweet. And good-hearted. I'm totally biased. :) I love 'em. I need to remind myself of that on the occasional difficult day. So, here's a sweet reminder of the littlest (but biggest!) loves of my life:

Riley: Kind, honest, a cheerleader, helps without being asked, silly, polite, quiet, loud, great student, loves to read, loves to do devotions with mommy(!), is beginning to actually understand football, my favorite daughter (as I tell her often!). 

(Rocking out to Guitar Hero w/her new haircut)

 

 

Quinn: Huge-hearted, serious, awesome pray-er, great giggles, tries really hard to obey(!), wears his heart on his sleeve, loves to be around me (even when I'm upset with him!), big helper, loud, cute sly smiles.
        

Owen: ornery, strong-willed, lots of hugs & kisses, silly, likes to play, likes to climb, is working on talking more and saying "yesh" (yes), big cuddler, did I mention absolutely ornery?? Oh, and strong-willed?


(Today was a great day with my kids! I wrote this a few days ago but was having trouble posting it with the pictures.)

Cold Nights = Warm Meals!

I'm participating in OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday now! (She has a great blog, btw!)

I hope to do this on a more regular basis now that we are dining in more often. I meal plan just about every single week, but don't post it too often here. Here's our (dinner) plan for the week (main dish only):

Sunday: Kielbasa
Monday: Chicken Divan (Riley's favorite!)
Tuesday: One-Pot Salsa Beef Skillet (Brad's night to cook)
Wednesday: Breakfast for dinner! Waffles, bacon, applesauce, & OJ!
Thursday: Crockpot Ribs & Mashed Potatoes
Friday: Movie night & dinner at church (where we eat hot dogs and popcorn)
Saturday: Couples' Night In at our house - we will enjoy a potluck! Who knows what all we will have? :)

What are your plans for the week? We are planning lots of WARM meals as it is starting to get very, very cold here! Brrrr!

A Poll for You...

Hello friends! I am considering changing the look of my blog every so often, and would like your input! Some blogs do this on occasion for the holidays, change of seasons, etc. It includes a bit of work on my part to do so, so I thought I would see what you think first! It's completely anonymous, and you won't hurt my feelings either way. Please vote in the poll to the right even if you only visit here occasionally. I would love your feedback. Thanks! :)

Cooking In and Staying In....

By now I'm sure you've noticed that the HappyGoMommy! family loves to eat out. We do! Everything from chain restaurants, to carryout, to local little restaurants. Well, we've decided to see if we can go without eating out (including carryout!) for an entire month! We are not doing this because we need to save the money (though that will be nice), but rather, to see if we can actually not eat in restaurants for a month! This was a family idea, and I'll report later on how we're doing...!

I picked up groceries today for the next week and decided to include some fast family foods that we normally don't do - prepackaged chicken fajitas, frozen pizzas, etc. - in addition to all of the ingredients for my homemade meals. My theory is that if I have a few super-quick and low-mess foods on hand,we will be less tempted to dine out! When I do cook (usually most nights a week), I usually prepare my meals from scratch or mostly-from-scratch, and I do complete meals (dinner, side, veggie, fruit, bread, etc.). My sweet husband has also decided to prepare dinner once per week to give me a night off. He loves trying new recipes as much as I do, which I really appreciate! :) We have lots of cookbooks and recipe magazines around our home!

Do you have any meals that are super-simple to do when you are crunched for time or not wanting to prepare a full meal? If so, I would love to hear about them or receive your recipes.

Of course, this doesn't include eating out at friends' or family's homes, so feel free to invite us over if you'd like!! :) I'm sure we would appreciate the change of scenery, not to mention the conversation and good company. :)